Catori’s P.O.V

 

“How is school going honey?” I heard my mom’s voice over the phone. I smiled sheepishly and responded.

 

“It’s good, yeah the classes are good.” I lied openly. I winced when I heard my mother cheer me on. Honestly, I had dropped out of school because I wasn’t going to be able to pay the tuition. It’s already mid-spring and the tuition was due at the beginning of spring. I sighed then told my mom I had to go. I sighed and looked at my resume; I can’t believe I was fired from my job. I mean seriously that was my only form of pay and now I’m two months behind my rent. I continued to walk around the streets of Seoul to find a job, any job that would take me. I sighed then slowed my pace when I saw the walking sign go to stop. I waited with many other strangers at the sidewalk. I looked to my right and saw a man walking with his phone pressed up against his ear. Completely distracted he continued walking without noticing the stop light. I looked at him surprised and saw a bus coming his way. My quick instincts told me to pull him back before the bus could get to him. I yanked him back by his suit jacket just as the bus passed by honking at us. I sighed in relief and let go of the man. He looked at me surprised and for an instant I thought he was going to yell at me. Instead he smiled and bowed deeply. I looked at him surprised and bowed back.

 

“Thank you so much, if it wasn’t for you I would be gone by now!” he exclaimed, he thanked me continuously. I smiled and told him it was fine. “What do you mean fine?! I would be dead by now!” he exclaimed. I smiled meekly and bowed at him. “If there’s anything you need I’ll help you with it. No matter what!” he chuckled and ruffled my hair. “You speak very fluent Korean! How did you learn?!” he asked me curiously. I told him that I’ve been studying for a couple of years now in Korea. “That’s amazing! Now what could I help you with?” he replied joyfully.

 

“Oh don’t worry sir, it’s fine I’m happy knowing that you’re fine.” I shook my head telling him he was fine.

 

“Oh nonsense! I’m sure you need help with something.” He offered money and I shook my head. I couldn’t just take money from a random man. I saw him look over at my paper in hand and he smiled brightly. “I know! You need a job don’t you?!” he said with a knowing look. I looked at him surprised but nodded. “Perfect! I was actually looking for a worker and I think you’d be perfect for the job!” he chuckled then asked for my number. “This way I can call you to tell you when you start.” He smiled and I nodded. We exchanged numbers and then went our separate ways. I walked back to my apartment happy from my success. Will he really call though? I hope so, he seemed serious about it. I sighed and walked up the stairs to my apartment.

 

“Hey hoe! What’s up with you? Don’t even say hi to me!” Chaelin snickered and swung an arm around my shoulders. “How’s my dongsengie?! Did anyone make you mad?” he asked while pinching my cheek. I winced and swatted her hand away.

 

“No~” I stuck my tongue out at her. “Actually I might just be getting a job real soon!” I smirked while fist pumping the air.

 

“Really?! That’s good! Damn girl, what job?” she asked while entering my apartment with me. I stopped in my tracks and thought about it. “Tori… don’t tell me you don’t know what the job is.” She groaned while plopping herself on the couch. “How did you even get the job if you don’t know what it is?!” he flailed her arms.

 

“Shut up! Okay so yeah maybe I don’t know what the job is but I’m pretty sure it’s a good one!” I defended myself and put my hands up in defense. She rolled her eyes while face palming herself.

 

“Then how could you possibly get the job if you don’t know what it is!” her voice grew higher with each word. I laughed then sat next to her.

 

“Just so you know you’re technically talking to a superhero!” I stuck my tongue out her. She looked at me weird and urged me to continue. “So today while I was walking there was a stop light right? And so this guy next to me keeps on walking ‘cause he was too busy with his phone.” I paused to make sure she understood. When she nodded I continued, “So me being the ninja that I am I saw a bus coming his way. So~ I pulled him back before he could get hit by the bus!”

 

“YOU’RE A SUPERHERO!” she exclaimed teasing me. I flailed my arms around in agreement.

 

“I KNOW!” We high-fived each other and laughed.

 

“Wait, so then how did you get the job again?” she asked.

 

“Oh right! Okay so he wanted to repay me for saving his life so he offered me a job!” I smiled giddily.

 

“You better be careful Tori, don’t trust people so quickly.” She warned me. I nodded then saluted her.

 

“Of course unnie! You know that I’m not that dumb! He seemed like a nice man. I could tell by the look in his eyes.” she pulled me into a hug and squealed.

 

“I’m so proud of you! You finally found a job!” she squeezed me tighter. I giggled and hugged her back.

 

“Ow, okay unnie you’re kind of hurting me now…” I said out of breath. She released me laughing and ruffled my hair.

 

“Okay I’ll let you rest, you’re gonna need some rest for tomorrow.” She stood up to leave.

 

“Uhh, it’s only 3 in the afternoon…” I looked at her weirdly. She coughed awkwardly and nodded.

 

“I knew that, I-I was just testing you and- okay you know what don’t give me that look!” she pointed a finger at me. I laughed at her while holding my stomach.

 

“Come on let’s go get something to eat. My treat!” I linked arms with her and we left for the restaurant nearby.

 

“Yah, dongsengie come with me to the club tonight. I was told there was gonna be a really sick rapper there tonight!” Chaelin encouraged me. “And I know how much you love rappers. Eh? Eh? Come on you know you want to come.” She nudged me.

 

“I guess, but we can’t stay there super late so let’s go right now, it’s already seven so I’m there will be something there.” I agreed. She fist pumped the air and linked arms with me. We walked to the underground club near Hongdae that we would go often to. We looked around and saw familiar faces, some good some bad.

 

“Look I think he’s gonna come out soon. He goes by the name of Zico, people say he’s real good.” She informed me. I nodded and smirked at her.

 

“You sure you don’t like this kid?” I asked her teasingly. She scoffed and looked appalled.

 

“You know who I like very much, I would NEVER choose anyone else!” she started fanning herself.

 

“So you still like that one rapper then huh? What’s his name again? Tip? Toe?  Tim? Tom?”

 

“Are you serious?! IT’S T.O.P! THE T-O-P!” Chaelin nudged my head. Snickering I shook my head telling her I was joking. “You better be!”

 

“Anyways when is this new physco  guy coming?”

 

“Tori, stop just stop! YOU HAVE THE MEMOR OF AN OLD LADY WHEN IT COMES TO NAMES! IT’S ZICO Z-I-C-O” She spelt his name out. I nodded and agreed. I am pretty bad with names. “Let’s get closer to the stage.” She pulled me closer causing me to bump into someone. I fell back and landed on the ground. I winced in pain and looked up. I saw a hand outstretched and thinking it was Chae’s I took. When I felt the hand it didn’t feel like Chae’s at all. It was definitely the hand of a man, or a girl with man hands….

 

I looked at the person and saw most of their face covered by a snapback. The hat said Zico, only the ‘Z’ was backwards. I tried to see his face but all I saw were beautiful plump lips asking for forgiveness.

 

“Sorry, didn’t mean to bump into you.” He half smiled at me still not making eye contact. I looked at our hands and saw that they were still intertwined together. He cleared his throat and snickered. “I see you liked my hand a lot huh?” his half smile turned into a smirk as he let go of my hand. I could feel my cheeks blush at his words.

 

“Umm, sorry…” I trailed off. I could feel myself get nervous around his presence. He chuckled and shook his head.

 

“Don’t worry about it, now if you’ll excuse me, I have some work to get done.” He stretched but before leaving he came closer to my ear. “It was nice meeting you.” He whispered in my ear. I could feel his lips brush against my cheek. With shock filling my mind I didn’t have time to process him leaving.

 

“Tori, Tori, Tori, oh my god, TORI!” I jumped surprised when I heard Chaelin scream my name.

 

“Wha-? Oh hey Chae!” I smiled at Chaelin when I found out she was calling me. She face palmed herself and just pulled me with her. We walked closer to the stage and saw the lights dim. The crowd started making nose when they saw a rapper go on stage. I looked up and saw who it was. It was none other than Zico. The man I just bumped into and found his lips to be irresistible. I saw in amazement as he owned the stage. It was like he was born to rap. The whole time I looked at his lips, I saw as they pressed against each other with each word. His lips were memorized in my mind. The crowd roared when his fast verse came by. The faster his lips moved the move I found him fascinating. I smiled when he ended by simply leaving the stage. The crowd roared and I joined in. They were cheering for him to come back but he never did.

 

“DUDE THAT WAS SICK! HEY HEY THAT WAS THE GUY YOU BUMPED INTO!” Chaelin flailed her arms, “YOU BUMPED INTO ZICO THE ZICO!” She held my hands jumping up and down. I laughed while thinking about him. There was something about him that… I really liked. I have to find him. I looked over at Chaelin who was still jumping up and down.

 

“I have to find him.” I told her out flat. She froze and looked at me.        

 

“Wait, what?” she looked at me puzzled, “You want to find him?” she tilted her head to the side. I nodded then pulled her with me outside of the club. I saw a tall figure at the end of the street. I knew it was him, he had the same hat on only this time he had it on backwards. If I catch up to him I can see his face. I looked over at Chaelin who was smiling deviously at me. Suddenly I felt a strange feeling in my stomach. “YAH! ZICO!” She cupped her moth as she screeched his name out. I winced and suddenly felt embarrassed when I saw him turn around. He shifted his hat foreword so his face was covered. I sighed, face palming myself.

 

“Chae stop!” I slapped her then pulled her away.

 

“Bye!” I heard him shout as we walked away. I could hear his laugh rumble around me despite being so far away.

 

“What?! You just said you had to find him!” Chaelin emphasized on ‘had’.

 

“Well I did, now we can go home.” I yanked her with me the opposite way.

 

“Mmhmm, sure whatever.” I saw her roll her eyes then walk back home with me.

 

                                                                                ~~

 

“Tori-ah?” I heard a familiar voice through the phone. I shot up from bed and looked at the clock.

 

“Oh hello, sir sorry I didn’t answer sooner.” I apologized to Mr. Woo the man form yesterday.

 

“Oh that’s perfectly fine, now I was wondering if you could come in today.” He asked me politely.

 

“Of course! Should I go over right now?!” I nodded furiously.

 

“Yes, that would be wonderful! I’ll meet you at the front desk. I have a very special job for you.” She chuckled. I thanked him and then hung up. I ran out as I got ready to go to my new job. When I finished getting ready I looked at the directions he gave me and followed them. I stopped in front of a huge building. I took a deep breath and entered the lobby. I saw Mr. Woo waiting or me at the front desk. When he saw me I could see a smile form on his lips. He came up to greet me. “I’m glad you came, now it’s still and frankly the person you’re going to work for still isn’t here yet so, I’ll show you around.” I nodded but looked at him curiously.

 

“Oh so I won’t be working for you then?” I asked with manners.

 

“No I’m sorry, I have to leave for work here because of my health right now. Right now my son is in my place. He’s a little bit of trouble so I warn you, please have patience.” He chuckled nervously. I nodded and felt nervous all of a sudden.

 

“That’s fine, sorry to sound so rushed but what will my job be?” I asked him trying not to sound nervous.

 

“You’ll be his personal assistant is all.” He smiled then escorted me around the building so I could now were everything it is. Once we finished the tour he showed me where my desk would be. “You’ll be right outside of Jiho’s office here.” He showed me my desk and I thanked him.

 

“Oh so his name is Jiho?” I asked when I heard  a name be said. He nodded with a smile.

 

“Yes, he’s a nice boy when you get to meet him, but I still advise you to be careful with him.” he chuckled while patting my shoulder. “Oh look, he is comes now.” I turned around to see this so called Jiho. I froze in my spot when I saw him. I looked at his features that fit perfectly with each other. I couldn’t stop looking at his lips, they looked so familiar I just couldn’t think of who they belonged to. He came closer towards us with a smirk on his lips. I noticed he was looking at me like he knew me. I looked away awkwardly. “Took you long enough,” Mr. Woo complained to his son.

 

“You should have told me you found me a pretty assistant, I would have been here earlier.” He chuckled slyly. I could feel my lips warm up at his complement. I looked up at him when I heard his voice, I swear I’ve heard his voice before. I know this man from somewhere, but where?

 

“Now Jiho, don’t be like that this is a professional work place not some place that you can act how you always do.” I could hear annoyance in Mr. Woo’s voice. “I’ll let you two get to know each other.” And with that he left us. I could feel Jiho’s eyes on me. I shifted awkwardly then decided to bow.

 

“Hello I’m Catori, I’ll be your new personal assistant.” I tried to avoid eye contact with him as much as I could. I could hear his steps come closer to me.

 

“Why don’t you come into my office, maybe then we can talk in more peace.” I saw his lips form a smirk as he guided into his office. He motioned me to sit down in front of his desk. I saw him walk over to his seat nonchalantly. “Are you scared of looking into my eyes Ms. Catori?” he chuckled in shook my head and looked into his eyes. The more he talked the more I felt like I already knew him. I looked over at his lips once more, they were a beautiful color of rose pink. They were full and plump… plump… just like…Zico’s…

 

I heard him chuckle when he caught my eyes on his lips but I didn’t care. “I see you’re fond of my lips aren’t you.” His lips formed a half smile. I froze in my seat when I felt something connect in my mind. It can’t be, that’s impossible. The more I looked at his half smile the more it became clear.

 

“Zico…”

 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>